The 4-Hour Chef is Live!

I’ve been keeping things under wraps, but there is one big surprise. For the last 5 years, the most frequent request from blog readers has been a guide to mental performance. In other words, answering the question: how do you deconstruct and learn any skill?

Well, I’ve been listening all along, and that book is here!

Here’s the complete title: The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life. Intended to be “the cookbook for people who don’t buy cookbooks,” The 4-Hour Chef will use food as a vehicle to teach the art and science of meta-learning–the skill of learning skills. Whether you want to learn a new instrument or a new sport (or anything in between), you’ll have a field-tested and research-backed blueprint. In addition to insight from world-class chefs, we’ll have an unreal cast of characters helping you to multiply your learning potential.

For a limited time, to celebrate the announcement, you can pre-order The 4-Hour Chef for 50-80% off. Instead of $30 for print, you can reserve a copy for $15. Instead of $22 for Kindle, you can get it for $5.99.

You can cancel anytime up to ship date, so there is no downside, only locked-in savings.

Sidenote…

Why might you buy the physical book, even in addition to the Kindle? Three reasons:

1) It will be gorgeous, a wonderful tactile experience, and truly unlike any cookbook you’ve ever seen.

2) I’ll be thinking up bonuses for people who buy the print edition early.

3) It would really help me out. Inexplicably, The New York Times excludes all advice/how-to books from their e-book bestseller list, so only the print edition counts towards the bestseller list. Silly, but there you have it!

A Christmas Countdown Experiment: The 4-Hour Chef Teaser

Next, I present to you the first Kindle Fire book teaser and app!

100% free and titled “A Christmas Countdown Experiment: The 4-Hour Chef Teaser,” it includes a seven-day Christmas countdown advent calendar, with unusual tips that allow you to enjoy wine, cookies, and all the other holiday vices… while losing fat.

From strategic yo-yo dieting and tequila hot chocolate, to exploding cows and tattoos, it’s full of surprises. Here’s are a few screenshots and the introduction video, followed by the download link…

Main menu – just tap any food for the recipe and much more.

I love advent calendars! Tap any day for your prescription or reward.

Download The 4-Hour Chef Teaser here. Please note! This version is limited to Kindle Fire at the moment, but the iPad (iOS) and general Android versions are almost done. They’ll be coming along shortly, and I’ll keep you posted.

But… why not get yourself a free Kindle Fire? That’s next.

50 Free Kindle Fire Devices

If you don’t yet have a Kindle Fire and would one for free, I’m giving away 50 of them. This is a thank you for providing so much helpful feedback over the last six months.

Here’s how to get one:

1) Just spread the word in the next 48 hours! Send people to this blog post or The 4-Hour Chef page on Amazon. Here are some ideas: Facebook like, Facebook sharing, retweets, Twitter, e-mail, e-mail signature, street miming. The last one doesn’t scale as well as the others.

2) By 11am PST this Thursday (Dec. 1), leave a comment on this post telling me what you did. If possible, quantify the impact (clicks, page views, etc.), and be sure to follow these two rules, which are required for your entry to be valid:

– In the first line, tell me what you’d most like to learn in The 4-Hour Chef.

– Keep the entire comment to 200 words or fewer, so use bullets!

We’ll consider the first 300 submissions, and a few judges and I will choose the 50 we think did the best job (subjective, I know). Then we ship them off! Void where prohibited, Martians under 21 not allowed, etc., etc. Winners will be announced next week.

Happy holidays!

Much more to come…

Related and Recommended

The Tim Ferriss Showis one of the most popular podcasts in the world with over 500 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.

Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna
be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)

Most want to learn: best way to consume alcohol without losing strength/gaining weight, recommended supplements for women, female specific recommendations for strength gain, hacks for traveling internationally for long periods of time with children, “learning anything” tips for kids!

Promoted to : 3194 Facebook followers, 522 twitter, 2500+ on email list, stumbled via Su.pr, working on a blog article (135K + readers/month) and planning a results based giveaway once 4HC is released (signed copy would be great 😉

I would most like to learn about some of the cooking tips from the pros. I am also interested in reading about the tips to drinking alcohol without the weight gain amongst everything else the book will have. It was hard to choose!

I want to learn how to keep my family fed, fit, and fabulous without wasting all of our time in the kitchen. Plus, learning the skill of learning – very cool.

Already working off knowledge in 4HB.

-Twitter and Facebook posted (500+ friends and followers)

-Walked between office buildings with big “4 HOUR CHEF” sign taped to chest and amazon page pulled up on iPad. Had five people ask me about it. Two already familiar with Ferris’ prior books but unaware of this one.

-Posted on company billboard for co-workers in office of 1200 people.

-Stuck copies of chest sign on street lamps with instructions to google it.

-Liked it on my facebook page (130 friends, I know it isn’t many but I don’t “friend” people unless I am actually friends with them and keep regular contact with them. I take the “choose your friends wisely” mantra seriously.)

-emailed a link to this blog post to my favorite people

Note: I would have blogged and tweeted also but I don’t have a twitter account or a blog. I aim to change that as I work on my muse though.

two things, first, do we need to be US residents? and second: how about putting the “leave comment” widget at the top of the comment area? so we can leave a comment without the need of scrolling all the way down 300 comments or so,. which is a usual number for comments in this blog,.

I shared this link with all my college mates via our class facebook page. I think my classmates and I will benefit most from learning new things more efficiently. Especially since we are in class 30 hours a week and then spend another 20 studying. It leaves little time to do anything else. I hope I can glean some hacking of the system knowledge from your new book. Thanks for putting this together.

I workout all the time, but I need to learn cook healthier and do it more often to get more results from busting my tail at the gym. Admittedly, I am not the best cook and I am sure “The 4-Hour Chef” would help me to change that.It would help improve my physique, make me healthier, and save me money (takeout is pricey!).

Liked on Facebook and posted the links to your blog and Amazon on my Facebook page.

What I would like most to learn in the 4-Hour Chef is recipes to help lose weight. I spread the word by both liking and sharing on Facebook. I also told my husband (impact minimal)! This comment is an attempt to get a free Kindle Fire, the last one was in reply to the cover question.

– I really look forward to learning the kitchen hacks Tim can pass along! I love applying some of his principles to my physical life, already; now let’s see what I can do in the kitchen…

– I posted to over 600 people on Facebook! “4-Hour Chef is finally released! I plan on getting a copy; what do you plan on learning from yours?” I really hope to spark a conversation between my friends!

So I reached out to my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages and directed my followers and friends to this page. Having a very large Indian Community, which tends to try for lucky draws, my description went: Win a Kindle Fire Now!!!And learn about another awesome book by Tim Ferris.

According to Klout I influence 970 individuals. With an amplification factor of 49 (this is on the high side).

Will also be speaking about this to my family and any friend I meet on my trip to India. They all love the 4 hr work week.

I’d like to learn ways I can satisfy my sweet tooth without sugars or artificial sweeteners. Is this possible? I shared on Twitter and FB but can’t quantify the results as I just did it and want to make the 300 cuts! But I’m a big fan of both TF and cooking so I’ll be advocating for this book!

Really appreciate your books and am looking forward to the new one! While I enjoy cooking, I’m actually more interested in the learning how to learn new skills component. I’ve got a list a mile long of things I want to figure out how to do!

I’ve promoted the book to my 800 Facebook friends and through Twitter as well. Additionally, I’ll be sharing it with the group of 18-25 year olds that I work with (and maybe even buying copies for them after I read it!)

Well, I let the Facebook world know of my most excellent purchase. Oh! my slew of twitter followers know as well. All 60 people that follow me for some odd reason. Maybe for my jokes, or my love of re tweeting rather than using original thoughts.

I am most excited about not only learning how to cook but also learning how to learn, sounds kind of funny but I am a 20 year old college kid and I have a lot of things I want to learn… Most can’t be taught at school 🙂

I got the word out first by sending a broadcast message to my email list of 251 – who are all buyers and very active in the internet marketing niche and know a thing or two about viral marketing – telling them not only about your new book but also about your kindle competition. Should help get you a large audience from my list and their resources combined

Then I produced a quick video which I uploaded to youtube that talks about your new book as well as your kindle competition. Then I posted a link to the video in the signature of my forum accounts to get tons of exposure 🙂

Also posted on Facebook, told my parents, and mentioned the new book to my SEO mastermind group of about 30 people

hey tim.. i can’t wait to read this book.. i’ve been looking forward to it since i first heard about it! i am excited to learn how to make some new seafood dishes, and how to fit some more healthy family meals into our busy schedule.

i posted about this book/contents on my twitter, facebook, and emailed all my friends… i also posted it in a few forums that i regularly visit.. i will be pre-ordering the book and also adding my review on amazon after i receive it!

I preordered “The 4-Hour Chef” because I would love to learn to cook without following an exact recipe.

While my followers list may not seem as impressive as some, I am more than confident that I will have a much higher conversion rate with my 370+ twitter followers and my close friends, than the people who sent out similar messages to 3,700+ followers.

How am I so sure? Simple, I’ve used Pareto’s Law as outlined in “The 4-Hour Workweek”. Rather than sending “one-size-fits-all” emails, or tweeting out to thousands of spam twitter accounts, I sent personalized emails to people already predisposed to buy the book. My friends and high-quality followers know I don’t retweet for contests and would never recommend something I wouldn’t purchase for myself.

• I e-mailed links to a few of my closest friends for whom I had previously purchased “The 4-Hour Workweek”.

Looking forward to the new book! Pre ordered both iPad and hardcover edition version as I did with the 4HB (I call them my “on the go” version and my “sit by the fire with smoking jacket” version).

Predominantly it has to be science behind cooking that I’d love to read. I’m sure the chopping method of which is faster (that you mentioned on the Joe Rogan podcast) is just a tiny taste of what’s to come to help in any capacity.

Tim, if I got your book on kindle for 5.99(don’t worry I’ll get the hardcover too because it will look good on my shelf) and it’s an error, am I locked into the erroneous price?

As for what I’d like to learn, it’s what other software programs like (Dual N Back) have scientific evidence backing the claim that they help with things like attention or IQ. The dual n back task, for example, improves scores on Raven’s advanced progressive matrices.

What am I doing to promote your past and future books? I can’t possibly win the twitter/facebook friends contest. I don’t have an online following, but in person I’ve introduced your book to people that would have never heard of it. I’ve helped people in my family and extended family lose weight, and I’ve gotten friends into weightlifting and language learning and I point them to your books or blogs whenever possible. People that otherwise wouldn’t have heard of them. Your books are in Spanish, for example, but not marketed towards latinos. My dad runs a contracting business and I’ve advised him based on the 4HWW, and I’ve convinced him to get a TimeSVR account.

I’m a college student who’s been cooking on my own for the past year, and I’ve lost 85 pounds doing it (from 350 to 265, so far). I feel like I’m entering a time in my life where making myself better is a real priority. I RT’d your link on Twitter to a measly 150 followers, but I always recommend people check your stuff out in real life (I love the Random Show). Peace!

Wow! What a great marketing idea. I’d most like to learn the best ways to cook all meats safely without losing juiciness – I never know what the best way is. I’d also like to learn how to keep spices so they last longest, and what grains to use in what dishes.

In The 4-Hour Chef I would most like to learn some of the detailed material that you teach in the High Tech Entrepreneurship class at Princeton and what you do at Singularity University. I would hope to get out of that ways to learn complex computer programs like Adobe Premiere and make content that is attractive and doesn’t look amateurish.

aka learning complex materials and being able to explain/perform it beyond the basic level

Shared on my FaceBook, and sent an e-mail to some family members. I may not get as many “likes” and page views for you, but its the effort that counts.

I look forward to learning anything and everything about cooking. My Fiance and I are getting married soon, and I am in a rut making the same things over and over. Looking for new tips and techniques to spice up things I already make, and making things that are out of my comfort zone!

I’d most like to bridge the gap of learning potential between the sponge my mind was when I was 12 years old and the resulting learning drop off after 25+ years of adding alcohol, caffeine, the internet, short attention spans, and far too much broadcast television

• I’ve given copies of your first two books to around 10 casual acquaintances in a kind of “pay it forward” approach – asking them to pass it to their friends, etc.

• I’ve pre-ordered 3 copies of the new book to give as gifts.

• I’ve had strange dreams that prophesied the coming of a fiery tablet that would teach me the ways of learning anew -which is either a product of incredibly good Mexican food or a vision of my future.

What started off as following your 4HB and a 20lb loss this year leaves me ready to dive into the 4-Hour Chef! Looking forward to finally getting a not-girly “cookbook” that will help drive my lifestyle, not just my meals.

– I’d most like to learn how to plan better to continue effectively, efficiently fueling my body with your straight forward, no fluff way I’ve come to expect! I have the basics of what & when to eat, but am starting a fitness challenge with some girls who need to a healthy LIFESTYLE overhaul and am always looking for skills I can pass on to help them think for themselves and not depend on me.

I am interested in learning to make quick tasty snacks that get me through the tough time during the day between lunch and dinner.

I really enjoy passing on your work week book to my employees and working with them to balance there personal life with work life. Becoming a new father both your books have greatly impacted my life and know than the cooking book will do the same. To spread the word I have already preordered a few books for friends and family as IOU stocking stuffers and alerted my tweeple’s and social groups to get a great deal while available.

A complete step by step breakdown from concept/choice of hack, to methods of deconstructing the interest, evaluation of effectiveness and then settling on choice.

E.g. How/why did you choose Tango dancing, research the best instructor for the price, find a easily/reasonably beatable record, and set your heart on it and going about it.

I tend to lose sight of the end goal in the middle of this process in pretty much everything, from language learning to dropping weight/staying with diets and developing business plans. This is the Tim Ferriss secret I really want as I know everything else you’ve written about works (as I’ve tried it).

-Im most excited to learn about basic cooking techniques that will save me money while making good food! Im going to be on my own for about 6 months, and I don’t plan on eating out alot, so I want to learn all I can!

While promoting your book, I RT’d (105+ active followers) and tweeted several times about the new book.

I sent out updates to my school (Taylor University) and other major student groups on FB to my over 1000 friends

I was also specific in targeting recent college grads, newlyweds, and single parents to help them out.

I would say my reach was 385 people on Klout, so you probably will have at least 35 book sales because of me!

thanks for writing this blog. I love the 4WW and 4HB, and I can’t wait to read 4HC!!!

I have been sharing this news with all people who belong to my tribe. In person mostly, but of course also over the internet. Liking and sharing the post on facebook and putting up a post in a forum with like-minded people.

I’d like to learn the definitive answer when to salt a steak, before or after grilling it?

But I’d most importantly like to learn how to make my cause a success and that I always be able to attract and connect to brighter and wiser people, who can help me achieve my dreams, hopes and visions.

Thanks for helping me already and showing me the way on this quest now and in the future.

I liked and posted this link of FB to 400 friends. Will continue to post it intermittently so people around the world can see it. Telling friends and family about it too. Hard to quantify, but hopefully will reach more people as friends share the link on. Maybe 1000?

There are so many things I want to learn about in 4 Hour chef. I’m a big foodie and I love cooking and dining out.

-Mashed coconut cauliflower sounds amazing and healthy

-Sous vide turkey leg? Yes please.

-Harissa Crab cakes sound divine. I love the kick of harissa.

-Learning more about food, production, cooking and how it affects a person’s health and wellness is so much fun and it looks like you’re going to make it a fun and enjoyable experience.

I most looking forward to how you are going to break down meta-learning. That is something that always fascinated me about your work from the day I first heard about you.

I made posts on Twitter and Facebook along with pictures of me “streaking” throughout Iowa State University in 36 degree (F) weather with signs promoting your new book. The picture can be seen on my Twitter account @TheBryceIsRite

-From the 4HC, I would most like to learn how to understand/estimate how different foods and spices taste together. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I can read a description of a meal and have no idea how it will taste in real life. I am taking big risks everytime I’m at a restaurant :). Also I am interested in meta-strategies in general, being a student of NLP.

For promoting 4HC:

-I posted this on both of my facebooks:

Professional (private) – 408 friends

Personal (/jonnyv) – 451 friends

I placed this on 2 forum signatures of mine.

I also preordered 4 hard cover versions.

-Jonny

PS: I lost 50lbs this year using tips from 4HB! My brother lost 40lbs as well. I will post a before/after on your FB soon. I got a lipid panel done and I am healthy as can be (used to have bad cholesterol). I am shooting for 30lbs more!

As a follower of your other books, I am confident that I will learn something new and interesting. I recently discovered the joy in cooking, and seeing how this can be applied to other areas in life by breaking things down certainly sounds interesting to me.

I have bought both the physical and ebook versions while waiting at jury duty…

I would most like to learn how to get out of negative mental cycles, or motivation exercises, particularly first thing in the morning when I seem most susceptible.

-I tweeted this to 2140 followers, some of whom are actual people, though some of the robots RT links a lot, so that could help a bit.

-Sending links to my mailing list, which is really just my mom, some friends, and an ex who stalks me.

-Sent to my 328 real-life Facebook friends who are actual people I know personally and know how much your other 2 books have improved my world (I haven’t had a job since 4HWW, build awesome campfires, and lost 35lbs with Slow-carb).

-I’ll include the links in a blog post that I already have coming up about my transformation after reading 4HB.

-I am not willing to go as far as a tattoo of your likeness for a Kindle Fire, though I would consider wrestling Kevin for your sheer amusement and page views, if you think that would help.

update: so far based on responses in the first post on 4hourpeople, this has resulted 5 confirmed hard copy sales and 1 kindle sale. (This includes my purchases). I have no doubt more have purchased, but this is those who have stated so in a comment. I also have one friend on facebook who said they pre-ordered it. So far 7 total confirmed sales from these efforts.

Also later today a twitter post with a tracking stats link should be made as a result of my efforts – during a twitter chat hosted by one of the “top 50 business women to follow” on twitter who has over 100,000 followers. I’ll post a link to the status and stats tomorrow morning.

Hi Tim, what I would like to learn most is how to spot/avoid/counter sugary foods and ingredients, and their effect on our cardiovascular health and diabetes risks; there’s added sugars and sweeteners everywhere!

Posted an update on my LinkedIn profile… So much competition for the Kindle :]

My channel has 417 followers and over 24,000 views. I also posted the song and info on my Facebook (650 friends) and will Tweet weekly through the release of the book (reaches my Twitter followers AND Facebook). I’ve ‘liked’ on Facebook and enticed others to do so, as well.

Your books have been a great inspiration in my life and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Hope you enjoy the song! (Feel free to use it for any promotion you please.)

I’d like to learn to play guitar. I’ve shared this post on FB, Twitter, liked it on FB and Amazon, shared my pre-order on FB and Twitter. I’ve read and enjoyed your other books…this one will be no exception. Can’t wait!

As a mom of 3 children, that are heavily involved in after-school activities, dinner has taken a backseat in our house. I love to cook, but never can find recipes that are easy to prepare or are well liked by a house of picky eaters.

I am hoping Tim Ferriss will show me how to prepare these meals in the morning, and be ready for a tasty dinnertime treat!

I have posted the amazon link to my Facebook wall, as my friends are “mom” in the same boat. Its a challenge to help us!!! We busy moms need all the help we can get. I have also emailed the link to this page and the amazon page to several friends not on Facebook.

I know Tim can help us!!! My husband will be your new best friend after i can finally cook him a “real meal”.

I was originally looking forward to learning some tasty new slow-carb recipes the most. However upon further review (aka reading this blog post) I will change my answer. I would say that the thing I’m most excited to learn from “The 4-Hour Chef” is your method of deconstructing a desired skill for effective learning. 4HC sounds like it’s going to be way more than expected, though I should have expected that! It’s always fun and useful to learn another way of looking at the world.

I have shared either this blog posting or the Amazon pre-order page (depending on relevancy to the audience) on both personal and business social media sites and blogs. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and WordPress. Our business is a chef apparel store, so it ties in nicely! I have also emailed a few close friends. Reach is difficult to measure at the moment.

What I would most like to learn from The 4-Hour Chef is the ingredients themselves.

1.) In the sense of how they complement each other and how different dishes combine these ingredients to form a cohesive taste and look.

2.) As well as how one could gain the knowledge of realizing that these sets of ingredients would work well together rather than another set of ingredients.how to understand/estimate how different foods and spices taste together.

I promoted mainly by email and face to face with people I am acquainted with that I know who are interested in cooking, health, or who aren’t the best at cooking but tries. So around 20 people right now.

I think what I most want to learn is how to make more than ramen with cheap ingredients. Being on social security I can’t really afford to make that big extravagant dinner but I’d like something that differs from the usual thing.

Covered the standard stuff, FB, twitter, but more importantly, emptied a pad of Post-It Notes all over the house advertising the 4 Hour Chef to my wife, the resident chef in our house. The kids had a ball helping post them.

Oh, and I’d like to learn some nutrition / food hacks to help fuel marathon training and maybe take a shot at an Ironman this year.

Covered the standard stuff, FB, twitter, but more importantly, emptied a pad of Post-It Notes all over the house advertising the 4 Hour Chef to my wife, the resident chef in our house. The kids had a ball helping post them.